First look review + Pop and rock | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/series/first-look-review+music/popandrock
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017Tue, 26 Sep 2017 21:55:16 GMT2017-09-26T21:55:16Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
David Brent: Life on the Road review – Ricky Gervais's bad cover versionhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/10/david-brent-life-on-the-road-review-ricky-gervais-office-pop-band
<p>Fans of The Office will enjoy seeing the sitcom’s shabby antihero again, as he tours his pop band towards inevitable disaster, but it’s a patchy comic reunion</p><p>He’s been through a breakdown, a Prozac addiction and hours of therapy, but David Brent hasn’t changed a bit. The world, however, has. It’s a harder, meaner place, with less time to indulge an amiable idiot. </p><p>That’s the premise of Life on the Road, Ricky Gervais’s uneven, but not entirely unsuccessful spin-off of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/apr/01/favourite-tv-show-the-office-ricky-gervais-david-brent">The Office</a>. Written, directed and starring Gervais, it’s a rehash that neither develops the character nor betrays him. It simply assumes that we still share his weaknesses and therefore care about the fool. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/dec/09/why-cant-ricky-gervais-leave-david-brent-alone">Why can't Ricky Gervais leave David Brent alone?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/10/david-brent-life-on-the-road-review-ricky-gervais-office-pop-band">Continue reading...</a>David Brent: Life on the RoadRicky GervaisFilmCultureComedyComedyPop and rockDoc BrownMusicWed, 10 Aug 2016 20:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/10/david-brent-life-on-the-road-review-ricky-gervais-office-pop-bandPhotograph: Ray BurmistonPhotograph: Ray BurmistonHenry Barnes2016-08-10T20:00:03ZNina review: problems more than skin-deep in cliche-ridden Nina Simone biopichttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/20/nina-simone-biopic-review-zoe-saldana
<p>A ‘blackfaced’ Zoe Saldana is commanding in her portrayal of the High Priestess of Soul, but the movie relies too heavily on cheap shots</p><p>The chorus from the most famous Nina Simone song never heard in the Nina Simone biopic is the one that rattles around in your head most as you watch it: “Goddam!” Cynthia Mort’s long-in-development Nina has been the focus of considerable casting controversy, but <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/09/paula-patton-queen-latifah-zoe-saldana-nina-simone-biopic">the light-skinned Zoe Saldana wearing dark makeup and face-altering prosthetics</a> is only the film’s surface problem. At its core it is an inept, cliche-ridden story edited together in a treacly and cheap manner. Set 20 years ago, Nina feels like a made-for-television movie of the era, the type which, thankfully, we rarely see any more.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/03/nina-simone-biopic-star-zoe-saldana">Nina Simone's estate tells biopic star Zoe Saldana: 'Take Nina’s name out your mouth'</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/17/nina-simone-blackface-criticism-zoe-saldana-biopic-slavery">'Blackface' criticism of Nina Simone biopic branded relic of slavery</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/09/paula-patton-queen-latifah-zoe-saldana-nina-simone-biopic">Actors defend Zoe Saldana over Nina Simone biopic 'blackface' claims</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/20/nina-simone-biopic-review-zoe-saldana">Continue reading...</a>BiopicsNina SimoneMusicCultureFilmDavid OyelowoPop and rockJazzSoulZoe SaldanaWed, 20 Apr 2016 10:36:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/20/nina-simone-biopic-review-zoe-saldanaPhotograph: Suzanne Tenner/APPhotograph: Suzanne Tenner/APJordan Hoffman2016-04-20T10:36:23ZDeathgasm review – dopey splatterfest with a touch of classhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/deathgasm-review-dopey-splatterfest-with-a-touch-of-class
<p>Creative gross-outs and absurd violence are the salvation of a horror flick in which a speed-metal band’s dark chords turn the townsfolk into demonic ghouls</p><p>“What about … Deathgasm?”</p><p>So suggests Zakk when he and his mates, gathered in a garage with their drums, keyboards and electric guitars, are throwing out names for their new speed-metal band. It’s the perfect name for them and it’s the perfect title for this movie, a dopey splatterfest that features one-dimensional characters and a draggy first act that’s eventually won over by creatively immature gross-outs and absurd violence. A group of friends in, say, the great state of Colorado could do far worse than purchase a bag of a newly legalised horticultural product and giggle their way through this wonderfully moronic movie.</p><p>The hordes of undead spew humours and inner organs all over the screen in outstandingly nauseating ways</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/deathgasm-review-dopey-splatterfest-with-a-touch-of-class">Continue reading...</a>HorrorFilmCultureMetalMusicPop and rockThu, 01 Oct 2015 12:48:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/deathgasm-review-dopey-splatterfest-with-a-touch-of-classPhotograph: Moviestore/REX ShutterstockPhotograph: Moviestore/REX ShutterstockJordan Hoffman2015-10-01T12:48:49ZBreaking a Monster first look review - rockumentary with more charm than chutzpahhttps://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/mar/14/breaking-a-monster-first-look-review
<p>Luke Meyer’s film about teenage metal band Unlocking the Truth plays on rock tropes to create an affecting, often hilarious portrayal of juvenile stardom</p><p>In the summer of 2013, footage appeared on YouTube of three African-American kids from Brooklyn playing unnervingly accomplished metal music in Times Square. Less than 18 months later, Unlocking The Truth became the youngest band to sign to Sony, in a deal worth $1.8m. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/30/unlocking-the-truth-interview">Unlocking the Truth: Brooklyn’s teen metalheads</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/16/teen-musicians-henry-plotnick">Underage against the machine: why labels are desperate to sign teens</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/mar/14/breaking-a-monster-first-look-review">Continue reading...</a>SXSW FilmSXSW 2015FilmMetalMetallicaCultureMusicPop and rockSun, 15 Mar 2015 00:02:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/mar/14/breaking-a-monster-first-look-reviewPhotograph: Alex Sturrock for the Guardian/the GuardianPhotograph: Alex Sturrock for the Guardian/the GuardianLanre Bakare in Austin2015-03-15T00:02:04ZLove & Mercy review – a warm tribute to the extraordinary life of Brian Wilsonhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/08/love-and-mercy-review-brian-wilson-biopic
Bill Pohlad's biopic of the Beach Boys mastermind is immaculate and respectful, but the arc of growth and redemption is too neat<p>What a shame it would have been had a biopic of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/brianwilson" title="">Brian Wilson</a> not been well orchestrated. Director Bill Pohlad arranges his film into two motifs that offer a warm, neat tribute to the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/beach-boys" title="">Beach Boys</a> mastermind. Made with Wilson's blessing, and spinning a full roster of Beach Boys hits, Love &amp; Mercy cuts between Wilsons young and old, skipping the really ugly bits of an extraordinary life in favour of a clean arc of growth and redemption.</p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/04/paul-dano-12-years-a-slave" title="">Paul Dano</a> (packing on a few pounds of podge) plays Wilson in 1963. The songs in his head are coalescing into Pet Sounds. The voices in his head are only starting to get in the way. He's left the rest of the band to take their surf-rock schtick around the world. Bored of writing about "sun and summer and summer and sun", he stays in California, dabbling with LSD, coveting "ego-death", preparing an album that will change pop music forever.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/08/love-and-mercy-review-brian-wilson-biopic">Continue reading...</a>Love and MercyBiopicsJohn CusackPaul GiamattiFilmToronto film festival 2014Toronto film festivalFestivalsBrian WilsonBeach BoysMusicPop and rockCultureMon, 08 Sep 2014 16:33:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/08/love-and-mercy-review-brian-wilson-biopicPhotograph: PRPlotting Pet Sounds … Paul Dano as the younger Brian Wilson in Bill Pohlad's biopic Love & MercyPhotograph: PRPlotting Pet Sounds … Paul Dano as the younger Brian Wilson in Bill Pohlad's biopic Love & MercyHenry Barnes2014-09-08T16:33:00ZSXSW 2014 review: Frank – into the head of a pop comedy maverickhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/11/sxsw-2014-frank-review-frank-sidebottom-drama
Lenny Abrahamson's take on papier-mache headed comedy oddbody Frank Sidebottom captures the awkward inconstancy of the truly talented<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/mar/06/frank-trailer-michael-fassbender-video" title="">• Watch Michael Fassbender in the trailer for Frank here</a><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/sxsw" title="">• More SXSW reviews here</a><p>The music came from the drizzle. Witty songs of parochial eccentricity writ large and delivered from within a giant papier-mache head. Frank Sidebottom, the fantastically strange pop star created by the late comedian Chris Sievey, was odd in a uniquely British way. Lenny Abrahamson's Frank, based loosely on the experiences of his former keyboard player, Jon Ronson, makes the man in the mask American, but it reinvents the reality in line with Sievey's unpredictable spirit.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/11/sxsw-2014-frank-review-frank-sidebottom-drama">Continue reading...</a>SXSWFrank SidebottomFestivalsFilmCultureDramaComedyComedyMusicPop and rockSXSW 2014FrankTue, 11 Mar 2014 12:24:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/11/sxsw-2014-frank-review-frank-sidebottom-dramaHenry Barnes2014-03-11T12:24:44ZCan a Song Save Your Life? Toronto 2013 – first look reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/09/can-a-song-save-your-life-toronto-2013-review
Keira Knightley plays a folky songbird in this New York set music biz yarn, but it falls well short of any plausibility.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/07/toronto-railway-man-review">• Review of The Railway Man</a><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/07/labor-day-review-jason-reitman-kate-winslet">• Review of Labor Day</a><p>Or to put it another way: could a song end your life? Could just one number, performed weedily by Keira Knightley at the beginning of this romcom, cause your body to self-combust at the prospect of enduring 90-odd minutes of a movie obsessed with authenticity but as phoney as a Miley Cyrus dance routine? Thankfully, the answer to the question is no. But it could certainly get close.</p><p>This is the story of how a washed-up record exec finds his mojo by stumbling drunkenly on a rare talent whose songs speak of love and heartache. You might think you've heard such songs before, but you haven't. These songs are better. They're called things like Lost Star and have lines like "We take a chance from time to time and put our needs out on the line". This music changes lives.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/09/can-a-song-save-your-life-toronto-2013-review">Continue reading...</a>Begin AgainToronto film festival 2013Keira KnightleyMark RuffaloPop and rockToronto film festivalFestivalsFilmMon, 09 Sep 2013 14:02:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/09/can-a-song-save-your-life-toronto-2013-reviewPhotograph: Andrew Schwartz/Toronto film festivalMark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley in Can a Song Save Your Life? Photograph: Andrew SchwartzPhotograph: Andrew Schwartz/Toronto film festivalMark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley in Can a Song Save Your Life? Photograph: Andrew SchwartzPaul MacInnes2013-09-09T14:02:20ZBad 25 – reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/31/bad-25-spike-lee-review
In his warm and affectionate study of Michael Jackson's Bad, Spike Lee displays an exuberant reverence for the King of Pop<p>Michael Jackson revisionism gets a huge boost with Spike Lee's new film, a terrifically warm, affectionate and celebratory study of Jackson's 1987 album Bad. Lee wants to clear away the tabloid smoke and spite, and bring the focus back to Jackson's professionalism, his craftsmanship, his artistry and his pop genius; the movie defiantly insists that Jackson was and is superior to his detractors.</p><p>Lee uses richly evocative clips and unseen archive material, including Jackson's stunning and mesmerically bizarre video demo of how he wanted the cartoon raisins representing him to behave for a TV ad. Lee doesn't try to pretend that he was not eccentric, but insists that Jackson's eccentricity isn't the point. He interviews the people who are influenced by Jackson now and those who were around him then – creatives, technicians, legal eagles – the massed Houston team that launched this heroic pop astronaut into space.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/31/bad-25-spike-lee-review">Continue reading...</a>Venice film festival 2012Venice film festivalSpike LeeDocumentaryFilmMichael JacksonPop and rockMusicFestivalsCultureFri, 31 Aug 2012 14:39:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/31/bad-25-spike-lee-reviewPhotograph: PRSpike Lee and Mariah Carey celebrate Michael Jackson's achievements in Bad 25Photograph: PRSpike Lee and Mariah Carey celebrate Michael Jackson's achievements in Bad 25Peter Bradshaw2012-08-31T14:39:48Z